Hello everyone, first post here! May it be the first of many. I am writing a science fiction fantasy short story. The main characters are all magic users in some degree. I like to give my main characters names that have meaning behind them, and so I've been looking at famous wizards in history. Specifically, Papus, the sorcerer and hypnotist, looked like an interesting name. However, I don't want the name to hint at things the character is not. So my question I suppose, is what would the name Papus imply to you, if you were to see it in a book? And if you have any ideas for other wizards in history, I'd love suggestions, preferably with an explanation of what that name would imply for you. I would go into more detail on the character specifically, but unfortunately, I don't have much. I know for a fact he is an adventurer. He loves to seek out new things and explore. He is very curious. However, he is also smart, and perceptive. As he enters the room he takes note of all the people he thinks might be interesting, tries to figure out their occupation on his way to the table, and wonders where the barkeep would store their valuables. That being said, he does not have extraordinary powers of deduction, he is simply very curious, and more perceptive than others. In short, he is a puzzle solver and an explorer. The premise of the story is a mage tournament Battle Royale. At the center of the multiverse, exists station 9, in which the greatest wizards from different universes with different magic systems come to compete and discover which universe has the most powerful magic systems. Therefore, this character is definitely already an extremely powerful wizard. Some of this information might be more relevant than others, but better safe than sorry. Hopefully this gives enough information for you to give useful advice in regards to the naming.
The name is fine. At least for me. It doesn't hold any preconceptions, although I confess I don't read very many books with wizards in them. In fact, I think it's a good name. Simple, but unique. (Unless there is a connotation I'm not getting.) Oh, and welcome to the forum! I'm one of the moderators here, so I'll take this opportunity to give you a few links to some areas of the forum that might be helpful to you. Pay especial attention to the New Member Start guide, if you haven't already. Especially if you want to put some of your work up for feedback in the Workshop area of the forum. There are requirements new members must meet before they can do that. You will find LOADS of people on the forum who love writing fantasy, so I think you've landed in the right place. Hope to see you around the threads. New Member Quick Start Forum Rules https://www.writingforums.org/faq/staff.68/ https://www.writingforums.org/faq/ https://www.writingforums.org/threads/constructive-critiques.20627/
Welcome to the forums! Name sounds good to me too, but to answer your question: the image it conjures (!) for me is one of a shabby wizard, perhaps due to the name being somewhat similar-but not really - to the word pauper.
Thank you both for the feedback! And thank you Jannert for the links to the different forums. I'm sure they will be really useful to help me get started on the forums. Given what you have said it sounds like I will keep the name. I like the sound of it and it does sound Wizardy. To address your point Maverick_nc, that does remind me I do need to give a description of him, which will hopefully correct that image. Thank you again!
